Things you were shockingly old when you learned

And as the night progressed you decided to lift the mood with back-to-back screenings of Quintet, A Wedding, and OC and Stiggs. The few people who remained will be your friends forever.

faerie queene joanna newsom

Are people still doing this?

Beyond the pale. Comes from the lawless and ‘uncivilised’ lands to the west of the Dublin area (The Pale) which was outside English control in the Middle Ages.

I remember learning that from a Robert Wyatt interview.

I remember back in the early 90s there was an Irish band called The Pale and only now realise it refers to where they’re from and not their pasty white skin tones.

...and the etymology is from stakes placed in the ground to demarcate territory. Which survives in words like impale, impalement, and Palo Alto.

... and paling!

and palisades, which is what I thought was the direct origin of "beyond the pale."

By gum I remember them. "I am the Butterfly". That was their song. That's literally all I remember about them. "I am the butterfly, I've shed my father's wings", or something. I mentally get them mixed up with Cud and Ned's Atomic Dustbin although they were much more obscure.

Peek Freans invented a biscuit called the ‘Creole’, later renamed as ‘Bourbons’. They also invented the ’Garibaldi’ biscuit. Bourbon empire was one of the powers Garibaldi defeated to unify Italy, ending their Italian dynasty.

Peek Freans is a great name for a company, biscuit or otherwise.

Ozone from Breakin' was in a dance troupe with Rerun from What's Happening.

Oh, and Toni Basil was their manager.

Surprising how many biscuits are named after revolutionaries. You’ve got your Garibaldi, your Bourbon, and of course your Peek Freans Trotsky Assortment.

What solfege is.

Toni Basil should be a regular on this thread, the things people still find out about her. Like her relationship to Devo's Jerry Casale and her devo cover "you gotta problem" is a good one. Or choreographing the Once in a Lifetime video. Co-invented "locking". What a legend.

she covered Be Stiff as well

i remember seeing The Lockers on the Merv Griffin show! that was Rerun's group. Fred Berry's group, I should say.

but did you guys know that What's Happening!! was based on the movie Cooley High? of course it might say that in the credits so maybe everyone knows that.

(xp) Appearing in "Easy Rider".

Dancing in Fosse's Sweet Charity.

What solfege is.

I learned this last year while researching my book. Cecil Taylor was big into solfege as a practice method.

Sean Astin is the son of Patty Duke.

But his father is not John Astin.

he's his adoptive father

Just rewatched Five Easy Pieces for the first time in decades, there was Toni in the famous diner scene. Was also in my local art museum a few years ago, walked into a video art installation room, and there she was in a late 60s performance art film

Toni and Davy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDi7MAbDyr0

Nice. And harry nillson.

he's his adoptive father

Was also in my local art museum a few years ago, walked into a video art installation room, and there she was in a late 60s performance art film

I'm guessing this was Bruce Conner's "Breakaway" (1966) which is great

Thank you, that was it!

On a tangent - and I'm babbling because of the heat - I remember being impressed with Toni Basil and Jon Anderson in the 1980s, because they were the first people I knew of who spelled their names that way. Toni and Jon. Those are archetypal 1980s names, like Madison or Porter or Johnny or Dutch or Robocop. But they were doing it in the 1960s.

This is why I still can't understand Jon Anderson. Everything about him reeks of the 1970s. But he's called Jon, like Jon from Garfield. And after a bit of research it turns out that Garfield, the comic strip, was first published in 1976 and was originally called Jon, so I don't know what to think any more. It's an icon of the 1980s, but it dates from the 1970s.

Prince. The whole thing with Prince spelling things with u and 2 and R and 4 etc. Was that just him, or was he copying something else? Did he hope that it would take off? It just comes across as a peculiar affectation but he carried on doing it until the 2000s. As far as I can tell he had no influence on internet-speak, despite the similarity. Because people on the internet in the 1990s listened to Rush, not Prince.

Prince Robocop Carter, now that is a 1980s name I could get behind.

Jon Lord was famous before Jon Anderson was.

well-known pre-80s jons include jon pertwee and jon voight

but mostly it _is_ an 80s name

Also John Roy Anderson didn't become "Jon" until 1970.

i knew toni tennille before i knew toni basil.

Isn't "Jon" what people with the proper name "Jonathan" (rather than "John") call themselves?

I knew a girl once named Toni Foote.

Like Toe, Knee, Foot. For real. Thought that was hilarious.

(xp) Yes

(excuse the pun)

You were really going for that one.

Nowadays it might be short for Jonty too, possibly the worst name imaginable (apologies if any Jonties on here)

jonty is short for jonathan though?

as a jonathan I flatly reject the jontys from our brotherhood
have known other jonathans that shortened it to jo and jock

worst name:

https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/30716836070.jpg

Prince. The whole thing with Prince spelling things with u and 2 and R and 4 etc. Was that just him, or was he copying something else?

dunno if he was copying them or if they were the first, but Blue Öyster Cult did R U Ready 2 Rock in 1977

Prince overtly emulated Sly & the Family Stone, and modeled his band after them.

So I think the 2 U stuff could be a hat tip to Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin

1969

The CDB! book is also a contender for Prince's song titles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDB!

dunno if he was copying them or if they were the first, but Blue Öyster Cult did R U Ready 2 Rock in 1977

12XU!

Despite owning many of the records, I've only now realised that Pärson Sound, International Harvester, Harvester and Träd, Gräs Och Stenar were essentially the same band just changing their name. I'd thought there was some massive Swedish psych/prog scene in the late 60s/early 70s but it was about five or six people. Plus Älgarnas Trädgård I guess.